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In late February, something happened to the Italian government that had never happened before: a hung parliament. After 75 percent of the population turned out to vote, it took two days to tally the results. Now, almost three weeks later, the center right and center left parties remain in a steadfast gridlock. A third party–the [...]

Interactive health technologies are a hot topic these days. Between Nike’s FuelBand and mobile phone apps like LoseIt!, the world has come to realize that interactive computing has a lot to offer  the layperson in the way of managing her own health. These new platforms were just starting to emerge when professor Andrea Parker began [...]

Last week’s Webcrawl got stuck in a snowbank on Friday morning. It took me all weekend to dig it out. (Actually, that’s fiction, but the true story is much less exciting.) Here are a few of my favorite science stories from last week: I’m sure you didn’t miss it, but a baby born with AIDS [...]

When disaster strikes, we rely on our social networks for support. During hurricane Sandy, neighbors helped neighbors by sharing electrical power with those who’d lost it or removing tree limbs from each other’s rooftops. In many cases, the help we get during emergencies comes from whomever happens to be nearby, but more and more our [...]

I went grocery shopping over the weekend and if you knew anything about my normal eating habits, you would have been rather surprised by the things I brought home with me: tons of fruits and vegetables, a huge bag of potatoes, shrimp, haddock, whole grain bread, nuts galore, yogurt, and even a little granola. I [...]

Last spring, four members of the Husky Environmental Action Team, or HEAT, got down and dirty with campus trash. For the last 20 years, building services director Mark Boulter has organized the annual “dumpster dive” to get a sense of what the Northeastern community is throwing away. This was the first time students got to [...]

In recognition of sequestration–across-the-baord federal spending cuts that automatically take effect today–I’m dedicating this week’s webcrawl to the beauty of science. First, watch this and swoon: via Wired. This video reminds me of two things: The world is a beautiful place that deserves our attention, exploration, and educated protection. Politics are a lot like the [...]

Engineers are good at tracking things. That’s according to Northeastern graduate student, Sarah Brown. As a fellow of Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Brown is collaborating with researchers at both Draper and Northeastern to track something that has never really been tracked before: emotion. Well, let me rephrase that. Emotion has been tracked before, but not [...]

Like all humans, scientists come in every shape, size and color imaginable. Every now and then I run into a real character. That is most certainly the case with the subject of my story on the News@Northeastern today. Professor Michail Sitkovsky is a burly man with a mutinous brow and thick accent that makes everything [...]

Hi friends. This week’s Webcrawl is coming in a little late, but it’s been no less raucous a science party than usual. Wind down your weekend with the following lovely reads: Jane Goodall has written a new book, but this one is about plants rather than chimps. Here’s a fabulous interview at the Smithsonian. If [...]